Shepherds of the South Downs – by Ian Everest

The members and guests of Ferring Conservation Group welcomed Ian Everest for a return visit, this time to give a talk about the lives and times of shepherds of the South Downs. Ian’s father was a farm worker in the village of Bishopstone where Ian was raised and this kindled a keen interest in farming, with a focus on the Shepherds of these ‘Chalk Uplands’.

Although a Shepherd was the most important worker on the farm they were paid a pittance despite their knowledge and expertise. They would have to be knowledgeable about the many diseases of sheep as well as calculations regarding their feed requirements.

For the past 200 years or so South Downs Sheep have been one of the most popular breeds in the country and the downland from Shoreham to Eastbourne supported 400,000 sheep, the highest population per acre in the world.

Ian informed us that John Elman was the first shepherd to breed South Down sheep, which became a favourite and the predominant breed in this area for many years – his tomb is in Glynde Cemetery.

Ian regaled many interesting facts including that Shepherds often placed orphaned and sick new born lambs in large heaps of steaming dung up to their heads in frosty weather, to keep them warm. Also that Shepherds would have a section of fleece placed inside their coffin so that God would know they had been busy tending their sheep and therefore ‘unable to attend church’!

Lewes hosted one of the many sheep fairs and used to attract over 40,000 sheep. It was also the venue where the best Shepherds would be approached by neighbouring farmers to come and work for them. This usually resulted in a pay rise! Sadly Findon is now the only sheep fair that exists today in this area and takes place the second weekend in September.

In the second half of the meeting Graham Tuppen presented the Nature Notes slot and displayed to the audience fascinating photographs of the stone patterns that are regularly produced on Ferring beach. Graham managed to speak to the artist one day and he explained to Graham that the patterns actually have meaning. Graham was delighted to say that signs of spring had arrived with the odd Crocus showing through in sheltered spots and some beautiful bright pink dwarf Cyclamen in his garden. Sadly a part decomposed young dolphin had been washed ashore and was found by a member’s dog on the beach. Also an adult hedgehog had been found in a member’s garden again by an inquisitive dog. Three Grebe, a Kingfisher, Snipe, twenty Oyster Catchers, a flock of Sanderlings and a Cormorant had all been seen in the vicinity.

Ed Miller concluded the meeting with news on the planning front:

The Lansdowne Nursery application is still to be decided.

Comments can still be submitted on the proposed housing estate on land at Kingston Lane, Littlehampton and also at Ham Manor on the land alongside the A259 (opposite Sainsburys at Rustington).

The building work on the approved housing estate on Rustington Golf Course has already commenced as well as on the Roundstone Farm site.

The Persimmon Homes planning application for the Chatsmore Farm site is still with the Court of Appeal.

Plans for the possible Highdown Vineyard housing estate has still not been submitted

The Changing Chalk Partnership

Chalk grassland, a globally important habitat, has sadly been in decline since WWII. Led by the National Trust and funded by a £2.23 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and People’s Postcode Lottery, this 10 core partnership aims to connect landowners, farmers and communities around Brighton and Hove, Eastbourne and Lewes with pockets of chalk grassland along the eastern end of the South Downs.

The following delivery partners, Historic England, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and Writing our Legacy, will help deliver specialist activity on specific projects.

This grant will help restore rare habitats and lost landscapes, bringing history and local cultures to life. The partnership’s aim is give volunteers the opportunity to learn new skills and to support the partnership’s vision.

Over 800 hectares of land are to be managed to benefit nature, including 60 hectares of golf course land to be returned to species-rich chalk downland and around 40 sites to be returned to active grazing. As well as the restoration of five historic dew ponds, the long-term future of one of Britain’s most endangered insects, the Wart-biter bush-cricket among other species, will hopefully be secured.

Grazing is vital to preserving and restoring chalk grassland and the project aims to encourage the return of this important tradition. Large scale conservation grazing is being led by the South Downs National Park Authority to restore a new generation of graziers coming together to establish a system that is economically sustainable.

After a break for welcome cups of tea members were treated to warm mince pies as the traditional pre-Christmas treat!

Graham Tuppen then took to the floor with news of local wildlife sightings and happenings in the ever popular Nature Notes slot. Graham opened with a delightful photograph of the planting of a pretty Field Maple tree in Little Twitten in fond memory of our late Nature expert, committee member and friend, Tricia Hall. A large group of members and friends were present, including Tricia’s two daughters Jackie and Amanda and her little granddaughter Wren, who took her tree planting duties very seriously and was most reluctant to hand over the spade! During the last clean-up of the year around Warren Pond, a large Willow tree was cut back from the water’s edge and plans to enhance the biodiversity of the pond and bankside were discussed. As Warren Pond is one of the few remaining areas left in Ferring that can support a diverse range of pond life including waterfowl, birds and insects, this precious habitat is certainly worth preserving and enhancing. Graham then showed a photograph of members planting bulbs around the thriving Community Orchard which will hopefully enhance this worthwhile developing area.

 

Another photograph showed the flooded fields on the Southern Gap attracting many bird species including twenty Dunlin, five or six species of Gull, a Knot, a Little Stint, and eight Brent Geese. Also Kingfishers had been spotted mainly in the area to the north of the Rife.

Ed Miller concluded the meeting with some planning news and informed members that the groundworks had already begun on the 74 house estate west of the ASDA supermarket. The plans for the proposed housing estate on Highdown Vineyard had still not been submitted. While the planning application for houses on the Lansdowne Nursery site was still pending as is the application for the sale of alcohol and extended hours at the currently named Kingsley’s Coffee Shop.

Sussex Landscapes

With an attendance of around 70 members Ferring Conservation Group welcomed Dr Geoffrey Mead to their October meeting (his second visit to the Group), this time to give a talk entitled ‘Sussex Landscapes’.

Dr Mead is an Associate Tutor with the Geography team at the University of Sussex. He specialises in the landscapes of SE England in both urban and rural areas. He did his doctorate in the suburban growth of the interwar period and is passionate about the Sussex landscape.

With illustrations and many photographs Dr Mead began by explaining that humans have greatly influenced the way our present landscape looks today and many post-industrial areas, although manmade, now have a natural appearance.

The oldest rock formations are found in the High Weald in the form of the Purbeck beds which were formed 140 million years ago. The High Weald gives way to the Low Weald which runs down to the Coastal Plain where the youngest rocks can be found and Newhaven beach is the only place layers of chalk can be viewed in the rock profile. Each area has its own soil type, distinctive landscape and vegetation which influenced the building materials used, from Purbeck stone in the High Weald to sandstone around the Ashdown Forest and Tonbridge Wells. Where there were large deposits of clay it provided suitable material for the production of bricks and tiles, also in addition around Horsham, stone was found in the form of slabs and this was extensively used for roofing in and around the town.

The South Downs provided an endless supply of chalk which was quarried and turned into cement. Gypsum was also produced from the chalk and used to produce plaster and other products. Nodules of flint were formed millions of years ago during the time when the chalk, produced from the remains of trillions of sea creatures, was used to construct many buildings and walls in villages on the South Downs. The Coastal Plain contains the youngest rocks and the soil is mostly brickearth, a grade 1 farming soil.

Nature Notes delivered by Graham Tuppen followed a welcome break for tea and an interesting photograph of a Knott Grass caterpillar that had been spotted in Graham’s garden was shown. This common black, white and red caterpillar feeds on a wide variety of herbaceous and are often seen during daylight hours. A Fox Moth caterpillar was also seen but with its brown hairs and shorter dark orange hairs on its upper surface was far less attractive in comparison. As in the past few years Graham kindly cleaned out the nest boxes that graced many trees throughout Ferring. Unfortunately a few contained dead chicks and eggs but interestingly one nest was found to contain yellow fluff from a tennis ball showing the resourcefulness of many birds. Poor Graham suffered many flea bites during this exercise and vowed to wear more protective clothing next year. It has been reported that sadly there are numerous bare areas on the Angmering Park Estate because of the clearance Ash Die Back wood.

 

Many types of fungi have been seen along the banks of the Rife, including Porcelain Fungus. A Sparrow hawk has been seen along with 21 Brent Geese in the area, and 34 Goldfinches had been counted in Graham’s garden although they had now disappeared. Graham warned that Asian Hornets are in the area and if spotted then for people to immediately contact a local beekeeper via the British Bee Keepers’ Association who are trained to trace and deal with Hornet’s nest.

To conclude the meeting Ed Miller gave news that the proposed detached house to be built in the garden of 1, Sea Drive had been refused by Arun DC.  A planning application to build a bungalow at the back of 1, Ocean Parade has been submitted.  Kingsley’s Coffee shop had applied to have its opening hours extended, plus an alcohol licence on and off the premises. Also Persimmon Homes have been granted leave to appeal the High Court’s decision on Chatsmore Farm also known as the Goring Gap.

 

 

Weald to Waves

A good audience heard a very encouraging presentation on the ‘Weald to the Waves’ project, given by one of its leading lights James Baird. The project is to create a series of green wildlife corridors from the borders of Kent and Surrey to the sea. The main corridor is to run from the Ashdown Forest, near East Grinstead, westward across to Ardingly and Horsham, south through the Knepp estate, towards Steyning and then across towards Bury and south to Climping. James Baird owns and farms the large estate at Climping in a two-mile wide Gap down to the sea.

He said the Knepp Estate was a key partner in this project but their commitment to rewilding was not the only way for landowners and public bodies to be part of the green corridors. He and other farmers would continue to cultivate the land and manage livestock but now with an eye to maintaining habitats for wildlife and allowing small animals to move freely from farm to farm, parkland to the downs and from field to forest, along green corridors.

There would be more corridors in future, largely following the river valleys – the Adur and the Arun, and Ferring could very well be part of one, following the Rife and linking the Gaps either side of Ferring to Highdown, the National Park and the Duke of Norfolk’s estate. Conservation Group members were very impressed with his optimism and commitment – a change from the all-too-frequent hand wringing and despair from Conservation campaigners.

The meeting also had a report on local wildlife sightings, including birds on migration, the Grey Seal that is frequently seen off Ferring beach and a Common Seal filmed right up the Arun near Pulborough. Ed Miller gave an update on planning issues: Chatsmore Farm was now under crops again but the threat of more housing estates in the Gaps had not gone away. And changes to the planning system were soon to be announced which would probably make it even more difficult for residents to object and Councils to refuse applications.

 

 

Living Seas along the Sussex Coast

On a warm, sunny evening Sarah Ward, Sussex Wildlife Trust’s (SWT) Living Seas Officer, opened the Group’s July meeting with an informative and interesting, illustrated talk on Living Seas along the Sussex Coast.  This happened to coincide with National Marine Week (spanning 15 days to allow for the variation of tide times) the Nationwide Wildlife Trust’s celebration of all things marine, which aims to promote the engagement of people across the UK with the world of maritime and helps in the understanding of the science behind this important work.

Sarah took members on a whistle-stop tour of the many different environmental features along the Sussex coast and sea. Starting with the Seven Sisters chalk cliffs of East Sussex, which shape the coastline and undersea environment, Sarah explained the importance of the vegetation on the shingle which also supports many animals. Globally it is only the UK, Japan and parts of Australasia that have vegetated shingle beaches that sustain this important habitat.

Marine Protected Areas are another initiative that restrict environmentally-damaging activities in the sea and it is hoped that eventually these areas will form a chain of protected habitats and wildlife. Sarah is a keen diver and highlighted the principle diving sites that provide the very best opportunities for data gathering, including Selsey in West Sussex.

The successful Sussex Kelp Restoration Project has greatly improved the kelp beds since the Sussex Nearshore Trawling Byelaw (March 2021) was introduced. Supported by Sir David Attenborough, this project was a collaboration of national and local organisations including SWT, Blue Marine Foundation, Big Wave Productions, Sussex IFCA, Adur and Worthing Council, University of Brighton and UCL.

Opening the second half of the meeting Graham Tuppen delivered the ever popular Nature Notes session with a beautiful photograph of one of the wildflower beds in the Little Twitten recreation ground. Although pretty blue cornflowers and delicate pink cosmos dominated the bed it was doing an excellent job of attracting bees. On a walk through Ilex Way Graham had spotted a blackbird on a nest in the trunk of a tree presumably incubating her 2nd or 3rd clutch of eggs. A black Flatworm with a gold stripe was spotted in Graham’s garden and David Bettiss reported having seen a mature Stag Beetle resting on his driveway. A pretty Comma butterfly was photographed relaxing in a member’s garden and a small Tortoiseshell butterfly was sighted by the banks of the Rife.

Ed Miller took to the floor at the end of the meeting to deliver an update regarding local planning news. He advised members that the planning application for a large modern design house in Grange Park had, at least for the time being, been withdrawn. Decisions on the appeals for the housing estates proposed for Roundstone Farm and Rustington Golf Course were still to be concluded and the hearing at the High Court regarding the Persimmon Homes estate on the Chatsmore Farm land had taken place and a decision was imminent. An inappropriate 20 metre high mobile phone mast, initially proposed for Greystoke Road, will hopefully be sited somewhere less conspicuous.

Shoreham Beach Vegetation Walk and June Group Meeting

On a very sunny Friday 17th June, some 20 members of Ferring Conservation Group met at Shoreham Fort mainly to look at plants growing on the vegetated shingle, one of the few places in the country where this eco-system is found.

Led by Graham Tuppen members were able to find 16 of the 18 plants on their list, including Sea Kale, Red Valerian, Common and Tree Mallow, Yellow Horned Poppy, Vipers Bugloss, Kidney Vetch, Silver Ragwort, Purple Toadflax, Thrift, and Starry-headed Clover. Surprisingly, given the sunny weather, the only butterfly seen was a painted lady but several wall and sand lizards were evident.

The speaker at the Group’s June meeting was Kevin Newman, a local historian, tour guide and author of a wide range of books on Sussex. His subject was ‘Scrumptious Sussex’, taking members on a tour of the county East and West, showing images of historic pubs, hotels, restaurants and breweries and telling fascinating stories about Sussex specialities of food and drink, and the people who consumed them.

As in Worthing town’s motto, ‘From the earth fullness, from the sea good health’, Kevin pointed to Sussex agriculture and Sussex fisheries as what sustained the county and its many visitors past and present. Eating and drinking was always important for social occasions and celebrations, as a picture of a VE Day street party showed, and an essential component of the attraction of resorts like Brighton and Worthing.

Seaside fish and chips, he said, was brought to Britain by Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe, and the first curry house in Britain was opened in Brighton, as well as the first fast food establishment and the first rooftop restaurant. And the popular dessert, ‘Banoffee pie’ was invented by Ian Dowding, a chef at a restaurant in Jevington, East Sussex, in 1971.

Brighton, he said, was always an important centre for food and drink – for its fishing as well as its prodigious consumption. Long before its seaside trade, the by the Prince Regent (later George IV).

After the talk, Graham Tuppen showed slides of the vegetated shingle at Shoreham Beach, which a number of Group members had visited the previous day (please see above).

Ed Miller concluded the meeting with an update on the planning issues in and around Ferring: Including the six housing estates that developers propose for the green gaps, the commercial development up McIntyre’s Lane as well as a new application for a house in Grange Park – to be built in three storeys and in a totally unsympathetic modernist design, both overlooking and overbearing on its neighbours.

 

A Sussex Scrapbook – a talk by Christopher Horlock

Ferring Conservation Group was delighted when Chris Horlock stepped in at very short notice to speak at their monthly Group meeting on 27th May. With an illustrated talk entitled ‘A Sussex Scrapbook’ Chris regaled members with an enchanting mix of anecdotes regarding famous people with a connection to Sussex, details of local historic buildings and landmarks, local traditions and folklore as well as traditional ‘health cures’, legends, tales and mysteries. Chris cleverly linked these stories to paint a vivid picture of the attitudes, beliefs and outlooks of the generations that lived in our cherished county in years gone by. As a much respected local historian Chris contributes regularly to Sussex Life and is the author of several books on Sussex history. As a natural story teller Chris has graced the airways on radio and has also appeared on television. Chris began his talk with interesting details of the Priest House at West Hoathly on the edge of the Ashdown Forest. It was once owned by Henry VIII and now has over 170 culinary, medicinal and household herbs planted in the garden. There are witch marks scratched into wood in several places in the house including the front door and on the beam above the main fireplace. These are known as apotropaic marks dating back to the 17th century and were believed to prevent witches from entering the house. Set into the ground outside the front door is a rough slab of iron which is waste from a local furnace and this was also believed to serve the same purpose (witches were commonly believed to be scared of iron).

The Long Man of Wilmington was the basis of another of Chris’s many stories. This giant figure is 235 feet (72 metres) tall and stands proudly on the steep slopes of Windover Hill near Wilmington, East Sussex. The origins of the Long Man are unclear and it was once thought to have been from Neolithic times but it could be as late as the 16th or 17th century AD. From a distance the figure seems to have been carved from the underlying chalk but the modern figure is formed from white-painted breeze blocks and lime mortar. With many other facts and stories relayed to his captivated audience Chris brought his talk to a conclusion by raising a chuckle with the photograph of a sign seen on the front gate of a Sussex property: ‘Trespassers will be Composted!’

After a break for tea Graham Tuppen presented the Nature Notes slot updating members on local wildlife sightings and happenings. Graham paid tribute to Tricia Hall who had devised and presented this slot for the past eight years and acknowledged that he indeed had big shoes to fill. Graham began by showing a photograph of the shingle beds along Patterson’s Walk, which Tricia regularly tended, along with the boat at the top of Sea Lane which was looking pretty with many Red and White Valerian. Also the lagoons had many Yellow Flag Irises and along the banks of the Rife Marsh Orchids and Twayblades (an easily overlooked orchid recognisable by their two large leaves and yellow/green flowers) were thriving. There have been several types of orchids seen in the vicinity including Bee Orchids. Three Painted Lady butterflies (a migrant butterfly from Morocco) were seen during the recent Beach Clean (at which very little litter was reported). Graham was delighted to inform members that masses of tadpoles were seen around the footbridge area of the Rife and Clive Hope reported having seen three Bee-eater birds over Angmering.

Ed Miller concluded the meeting announcing that there had been no further planning news with the exception that Worthing BC had received consent for a Judicial Review into HM Planning Inspector’s decision to allow the Chatsmore Farm planning application.

 

The White Stork Project

We welcomed Lucy Groves, a conservation biologist with a special interest in movement ecology to our March meeting. Lucy is currently employed by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust as the project officer for the White Stork Project, and is based at the Knepp Castle Estate.

Lucy began by sharing her enthusiasm for the Stork Project which is a pioneering partnership working together to restore a population of breeding White Storks in Southern England after an absence of several centuries. A number of private landowners, namely Knepp, Wadhurst and Wintershall, located in West Sussex, East Sussex and Surrey respectively are helping to establish a breeding population of free-living White Stocks in Britain once again.

This project is being carried out in partnership with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, Cotswold Wildlife Park, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and overseas at Warsaw Zoo. The named estates have constructed purpose built predator-proof pens covering about six acres each. A total of 166 rehabilitated wild-fledged White Storks from Poland, as well as a number form Northern France, have been released into these pens over the course of the last three years, in order to establish local breeding populations.

Lucy was keen to update the Group with the progress so far at Knepp and was delighted to announce that in early April 2020 five eggs were confirmed in a nest built high up in an oak tree with the eggs hatching in early May.

The project has fitted GPS trackers to a proportion of their released birds and these devices collect data to help determine home ranges, habitat choice, foraging strategies, distance moved per day etc.

White storks are particularly associated with the county of Sussex. For instance the Saxon name for the village of Storrington was originally ‘Estorchestone’; meaning ‘the village of storks’. A pair of white storks still features on the village emblem.

After a break for refreshments David Bettiss delivered Trisha Hall’s Nature Notes session and it was encouraging to hear that several species of butterfly had been seen locally; Commas, Tortoiseshell, Brimstone, Red Admiral, Small Whites, Orange Tips and Holly Blue. The Red Kites were thriving and as many as eleven had been spotted high above Beachy Head and it is thought that they have new breeding territories. Many waders had already returned to their breeding grounds in Europe. Chiff Chaffs are the first migrant birds to be seen here when five were sighted in the vicinity of the Rife, along with Green Finches. To the delight of local birdwatchers a rare Desert Wheatear had been reported on the Goring Gap and plenty of frog spawn and tadpoles were evident in the lagoons by the Rife – David also has a newt in his garden pond. Pretty yellow Celandines were plentiful throughout the village especially in Clover Lane, and magnificent Magnolia trees in full bloom were gracing many gardens. The Blackthorn was in bloom locally and Arun DC have confirmed wildflower beds were to be seeded in the public green spaces throughout the village.

Ed Miller concluded the meeting with the devastating news that Persimmon Homes had won their appeal to HM Planning Inspectorate and had now been given the go ahead to build 475 homes on the Chatsmore Farmland at the Northern Goring Gap – although this may be challenged by Worthing BC in the High Court. It was likely however that other large scale planning applications may be revived in view of this decision. The Highdown Vineyard planning application has already surfaced again and a Public Consultation had been planned in the Village Hall on 30th March. There has been a back-garden development proposed for a property on the corner of Sea Lane Gardens and Greenways Crescent, and a property already undergoing renovation has submitted a planning application for a 4-bed house in its back garden.

 

 

 

For the Love of Birdsong

As an RSPB Project Manager by day and Wildlife Gardener in his spare time, Adrian Thomas has always been aware of Birdsong as the natural soundtrack to our lives. It can evoke an emotional and powerful sense of time, place and season and it is not just a highly accurate way to identify and find many birds, but also a great source of joy to many nature lovers.

Adrian opened the Group’s first meeting of 2022. He is the first to acknowledge that identifying which bird is making which sound can seem a challenge, and he is keen for us to explore ways that we can learn to train our ears to get to grips with this.

Over time Adrian has made recordings of bird sounds from all over the UK and was dismayed at the constant background of ‘sound litter’ – planes, motor bikes, farm generators and sheep, to name but a few.

He explained that as we have few adjectives to describe sound a sonogram can help us learn to identify songs by ear by showing how the frequency (pitch) goes up and down, as well as the length of notes.  He encouraged members to appreciate not only the beautiful song like sounds of a bird attempting to attract a mate, but also the more intriguing sounds; such as the difference between a bird attempting to defend a territory – also to distinguish between different species.

With a further feather in his cap (please excuse the pun!) Adrian helped to create the RSPB music single entitled ‘Let Nature Sing’ which was released in 2019. It proved extremely popular and reached number 18 in the charts and was given regular airtime on Radio 2.

Tricia Hall took to the floor after the customary break for refreshments and reported that Water Rails had been spotted on the Rife as well as two Little Egrets. Also Cattle Egrets had been breeding at Pagham Harbour. Tricia reminded members to count the birds that visited their gardens for the period of one hour over the coming weekend and to record their findings on the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch website. The results would contribute to this important nationwide survey and is an important indicator as to the state of our key breeding and non-breeding bird populations.

To conclude the meeting Ed Miller advised members that the Public Enquiry into the Persimmon planning application at the Chatsmore Farm site on the North Goring Gap had now closed but he warned that the Inspector’s decision could take some weeks or possibly months.

 

 

Rewilding ‘A Personal View’

Neil Hulme MBE, a member of the Knepp Wildland Advisory Board, opened the last meeting of the year with a fascinating presentation on his personal view of Rewilding. This independent role gives Neil an insight into how existing and future opportunities can benefit nature to help preserve precious countryside and wildlife. Neil’s vision is to restore ecosystems, letting nature take the lead, whilst creating opportunities for new nature-based economies. Neil explained that landowners, by setting aside large areas for nature, through to the smallest wildlife-friendly city garden, can all play an important role in leaving a positive legacy for future generations. Connecting up habitats by providing wildlife bridges can help wildlife move and disperse naturally, allowing them to adapt to climate change and build resilience. Marine ecosystems are just as important to restore and Neil gave an excellent example with the Sussex Kelp Restoration Project off the South Coast. As from March this year the nearshore seabed is now protected from bottom-towed trawling gear, and there is evidence that in this short time the kelp is already showing signs of a good recovery.

Neil used the Knepp Castle Estate as a prime example of letting go and allowing nature to take over. Several species of bats plus Turtle Doves, Nightingales, Ravens and Peregrine Falcons for example are all evident within a few years of starting the project. To help finance the upkeep of the Estate eco-tourism has been embraced by conducting on site vehicle-based safaris and walking tours along with camping facilities.

After welcome cups of tea and customary mince pies, Tricia Hall gave the Group news that a Kingfisher had been spotted by the Rife, north of the bridge by Ferring Country Centre and similarly a Water Rail in the same vicinity. Also a Snow Bunting had been seen on the beach at Worthing opposite Marine Gardens and also a Grey Seal had been observed swimming unusually close to the shore.

Ed Miller took to the floor briefly to conclude the meeting, with news that the two planning applications for housing on Rustington Golf Centre and Roundstone Farm had both been refused by Arun District Council. Of the three applications north of the A259, two had been refused and one withdrawn by the applicant. The two applications to add a further storey to houses in South Ferring were both approved.